Label: Ethnic Folkways Library – FE 4388 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, 8 page booklet Country: US Released: 1982 Genre: Folk, World, & Country Style: African
Rare Folkways publication documenting the folk music practices of the Vai people of West African nation Liberia - with booklet. (NM)
Primarily farmers, the Vai people are a minority ethnic group living in Liberia with a smaller population in southeastern Sierra Leone. They presently number about 240,000 people. In 1977–1978 and again in 1981, Dr. Lester P. Monts, assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the University of California Santa Barbara, conducted field studies and recordings of the Vai. The performances in this collection feature six different instruments: three idiophones, two membranophones, and one aerophone, which are part of modern-day Vai music. Songs are sung in Vai, Mende, and Arabic. The liner notes, written by Monts, provide information about the Vai, their music and musical instruments.
Tracklist A1 Sande Ziawa Song A2 Topical Song A3 Masked Dancer Song A4 Masked Dancer Song For Bowu A5 Masked Dancer Song For Zoba A6 Sanga Rhythms For Bowu A7 Historical Song A8 Koningai Music And Story A9 Topical Song B1 Children's Game Song B2 Muslim Anthem B3 Muslim Anthem B4 Arabic Birthing Song B5 Kleng Rhythms For Yavi B6 Storytelling B7 Topical Song
